This topic has come up peripherally in a few different threads recently, but I thought I'd try to revisit it directly. What race strategies are people using in connection with the 200 free (or any 200 for that matter)?
I recently swam in my first meet in 16 years. Historically 200 free was one of my favorite events, and I swam it essentially as a long sprint. That strategy failed miserably in the recent meet, however: my second hundred was six seconds slower than my first (1:03/1:09 SCM) and felt even worse than it sounds -- I was barely able to rotate my arms on the last 25 meters.
The issue for me may simply be conditioning: I've just been back in the water since July, and it's been hard to get as much training in as I'd like. But I'm also wondering if at age 34 my days of treating the 200 like a sprint are over, notwithstanding Henry Clark's experience to the contrary.
It was interesting: after my experience in the 200 I was spooked a bit and ended up taking my 400 out too slow -- unlike in the 200, I had a lot left at the end. My 100 free, an event which historically I wasn't particularly good at, turned out to be my best event (58.3 SCM, felt very good).
The meet was a lot of fun--and, boy, there were some incredibly fast swims--but it did highlight for me how practicing racing is as important as general conditioning.
If anyone is willing to share how they race 200's, I'd be interested.
--Brad
Brad -
Unlike you, I always treated the 200 like a controlled race for 150 yards. If I sprinted the entire thing, I'd hit the wall at 85-100 yards.
My best 200 Free came at age 42 leading off an 800 Free Relay. The splits were similar to those at the world class level.
By that, I mean, the first 100 should be 2 - 3 seconds off your best 100 Free swim and your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 50 splits were approximately 2 seconds slower than your 1st 50.
So, I went 26.0, 27.5, 28, 28 - 1:49.+. That was 2 seconds faster than I had ever gone before.
The key I believe to that swim was doing alot of lactate tolerance sets - mostly 6 x broken 200s on 6:00 (rest 10 seconds @ each 50) going as hard as I could from start to finish. These swims taught me how to hold stroke while dead tired and really improved my leg strength.
I also was doing alot of VASA trainer work to build lat and tricep strength.
Good Luck and give yourself another few months to get it down.
Paul Windrath
Brad -
Unlike you, I always treated the 200 like a controlled race for 150 yards. If I sprinted the entire thing, I'd hit the wall at 85-100 yards.
My best 200 Free came at age 42 leading off an 800 Free Relay. The splits were similar to those at the world class level.
By that, I mean, the first 100 should be 2 - 3 seconds off your best 100 Free swim and your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 50 splits were approximately 2 seconds slower than your 1st 50.
So, I went 26.0, 27.5, 28, 28 - 1:49.+. That was 2 seconds faster than I had ever gone before.
The key I believe to that swim was doing alot of lactate tolerance sets - mostly 6 x broken 200s on 6:00 (rest 10 seconds @ each 50) going as hard as I could from start to finish. These swims taught me how to hold stroke while dead tired and really improved my leg strength.
I also was doing alot of VASA trainer work to build lat and tricep strength.
Good Luck and give yourself another few months to get it down.
Paul Windrath
